In a major development, the Sindh government has approved an amendment to Police Rules 1934 in order to curb the unnecessary arrests of citizens by police.
The amendment to Rule 26 was approved by the provincial cabinet in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah.
Sindh government spokesperson Murtaza in a tweet said the cabinet has amended the rules to regulate the power of investigation officer to arrest a citizen.
“Previously, police used to arrest a person on being named in the FIR. Now, power of arrest will only be exercised based on evidence gathered during investigation,” he added.
Happy to inform that #Sindh Cabinet has amended Police Rules 1934 which will regulate power of IO to arrest a citizen. Previously, police used to arrest a person on being named in the FIR. Now, power of arrest will only be exercised based on evidence gathered during investigation pic.twitter.com/vs5rPS5aOj
— Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui (@murtazawahab1) July 17, 2021
In a statement, he said that there was a loophole in the criminal justice system as culprit was arrested soon after the registration of FIR.
“Now no arrest will be made until evidence is found,” he said, adding that such unnecessary arrests put the burden on jails and judiciary.
Wahab said that the amendment has been made after having a consultation with police officials and other experts.
In some cases, IO will be able to arrest suspects after getting approval from senior officers, he said, adding that the amendment would decrease the number under trial prisoners .
